The present disclosure pertains generally to electronic personal locating devices for determining the location or position of a mobile object or animal, and more particularly, a device for determining the location or position of a mobile object or animal by utilizing the capabilities of two-way paging systems or other wireless communication means and global positioning satellite systems.
Tracking the location of an individual or an object or even an animal such as a domesticated animal or a pet that can move in unknown directions over a considerable range of territory has been a concern for a number of years. A number of systems have been proposed which employ existing wireless communication capabilities but which tend to be cumbersome, bulky, expensive or all of the above. With the advent of global positioning satellite system (GPS) services, it has been possible to provide relatively inexpensive location systems for determining the location of a moving object. These have typically been utilized on trucks to provide location information for companies that have large fleets of trucks in use at any one particular time. The position of an individual truck is determined by the coincident reception of signals from at least three of the GPS satellites by a satellite receiver, which position can then be stored or can be transmitted to a central receiving station via some sort of wireless link. Moreover, the wireless link can be a two-way communication link wherein the positioning information is only transmitted in response to receiving a request. However, the global positioning system (GPS) has some disadvantages in that it is relatively slow in acquiring the location data and it is strongly dependent upon the target object being in an open area where it is in a line of sight position relative to at least three GPS satellites. A further disadvantage, particularly in a small, portable unit, is that the GPS receiver that must be included in a locating device requires the use of substantial electrical energy during the period in which the location information is being acquired and developed from the GPS system. Further, a small portable object locator, in addition to minimizing the use of electrical power while being subject to less than ideal orientations to enable quick and efficient location by the GPS system, must also be very simple and easy to use.
The object locator described in the present disclosure and claimed herein comprises the steps of attaching a mobile communications unit having at least one antenna coupled thereto to the mobile object, accessing transmissions of a GPS system from the mobile communications unit to obtain location coordinates of the mobile communications unit; communicating the location coordinates from the mobile communication unit via a paging network to a base station; and outputting the location coordinates in human readable form.
In one aspect of the present disclosure a mobile object locator is mounted on a collar along with at least one antenna for receiving GPS signals and communicating with a base station. The collar is placed around the body or neck of the animal or object to be tracked or located.
In another aspect of the present disclosure a GPS receiver in the mobile object locator is activated and the GPS location coordinate data processed to determined the location of the mobile object locator wearing the mobile object locator.
In another aspect of the present disclosure the mobile object locator communicates with a base station via a paging network to process a request for location information and the return transmission containing the location information in answer to the request.
In another aspect of the present disclosure the coordinate data obtained from the GPS system may be translated to human readable form in the base station or paging network following transmission from the mobile object locator.
In another aspect of the present disclosure the coordinate data obtained from the GPS system is translated in the mobile object locator prior to transmission to the paging network or base station from the mobile object locator.
In another aspect of the present disclosure the mobile object locator communicates with the base station via any suitable direct or satellite wireless link whereby translation of the coordinate data obtained from the GPS system may be performed before or after its transmission to the base station.
In yet another aspect of the present disclosure, the output of the location information may be provided in text, spoken or graphic forms, via a loudspeaker or a display as may be selectable by the user.
In another aspect of the present disclosure, the object locator system may plot the location information on a map or permit the user to manually plot the location information or identify the location of the mobile object locator from the location information message.
In another aspect of the present disclosure, the output of the location information may be forwarded from the base station or paging network or other intermediate station to another remote station.
In yet another aspect of the present disclosure, other information may be associated with and transmitted with or in conjunction with the output of a location information including the time the location data was acquired, the status of the mobile object locator, the condition of the battery in the mobile object locator, whether the mobile object locator is within a pre-determined range or has passed a boundary or electronic fence, or the annunciation of an alarm condition.
In another aspect of the present disclosure, the mobile object locator system may automatically determine the location information, transmit it to the base station or dial up a user location to report the location information.
And in yet another aspect of the present disclosure, the mobile object locator may transmit the location information to a monitoring service and either store the location information for later retrieval or report the location information on receipt to the user.